I am 74 years old and find ignorance about things of importance all around in the people I meet, regardless of age. I make no claim to wisdom, but I do consider myself informed on the most important issues we face as humanity both with relation to the natural world and to each other. If there is anything I can pat myself on the back for, it is that I have been a voracious reader for decades with an insatiable curiosity that has not diminished with age.
Your recommendations are welcomed, all I would add is encouragement to everyone to explore the world through reading, not through travel. Taking your body for a ride is a pale shadow of taking your mind on a challenging textual trip. To be able to say "been there, done that" is an expensive and worthless pursuit. To say "I think I understand, but I need to read this again" is always there to be found and is priceless.
I'm about the same age as you, demographically quite similar, and it is stunning for me to see how many of the books on your list pop up on mine as well.
I wanted to express my gratitude for your insightful and nuanced coverage of both current and past events. Your articles provide a depth of understanding that I truly appreciate in this confusing and uncertain times. I frequently visit Twitter to read your perspectives and always look forward to your posts about the books you’ve been reading on Substack/Emails. They’ve inspired me to pick up several new titles myself.
I recently had the opportunity to take a leave from Big Tech and traveled to East and South East Asia for a couple of months where I met amazing people at random coffee/tea shops and we could talk respectfully about topics like moral philosophy, Islam, history, liberty, and social contract for several hours. Enriching conversations that I have never had in the US. Please keep sharing your readings and ideas. There are young people like me who look forward to reading your stuff. Thank you and many blessings!
Murtaza, you say: “Lacking answers to the major questions of existence, people are succumbing to quiet nihilism, desperation, or embracing many of the obvious ideological fads of the present era.”
Your list is not terrible; but, in my opinion, it’s still very much a doomer’s reading list. I think people would still be inclined to feel the way you describe in the quote I leave here after reading these.
Yeah, I am rethinking it. It’s not all in all a doomer list. But there are quite a few books like that in the list. As you say, one might like to have the benefit of already being religious when they read all this negative critique. One thing I believe now is that I wouldn’t want my son getting online and having all the pessimists and reactionaries pushing Nietzsche, Houellebecq, and such on him. I haven’t found anything really beneficial at all with Nietzsche except for interest in the classics. His philosophy never turned into anything coherently useful. Poor guy didn’t make it long enough to do so. Of course philosophers can find very niche curiosities with him; but I think he’s mostly unfruitful. And just why Houellebecq? I get that he’s kind of like porn for people that hate current Western societies; but what is exactly about his books that you recommend. Thanks!
To be more clear, what I originally saw as a doomer list was: Deneen + Nietzsche + Houellebecq + Perennialists + John Gray (who I actually really like). Strong anti-modernity sentiment. That’s what I meant. To be fair, the list as a whole is not directly giving off this vibe; but the vibe is there, quite a bit. And unfortunately Abdal Hakim Murad is popularly (mis-)interpreted as a Muslim Spenglerian polemicist intellectual and his book’s chapters on tanfir, khalwa dar anjuman, and ‘push back with something more beautiful’ are completely ignored by the extremely online Nietzschean and Evollanian inspired Muslim microbloggers.
Houellebecq is only a doomer superficially. There’s great spiritual message in his books they teach you it’s not weird to feel something off about contemporary society and that you need to look deeper
the way i was smiling seeing several of the books i admire make the list of your recommended reading. i've followed your twitter since i first signed up on the platform like 8-9 yrs ago and very glad i did so (shout out to goodreads for recommending good reviewers!). now if you'll excuse me i do have to bookmark/ read Houellebecq rather soon (he keeps getting recommended)
Houellebecq is a really disturbing and off-putting person in his face but he’s trying to convey a powerful spiritual message using the medium of ugliness as a vehicle…it’s really something
well to start with: Jonathan Brown, Muhammad Asad, Iqbal, Neil Postman, and Fazl ur Rahman.
btw a tip: you can use topsters.org to show a professional looking collage for anything from your fav books to movies to shows to music etc. link here: https://topsters.org/
you can also see it in action here in one of my blog posts. i used it to show some authors i had read and liked (go to the bottom of the post): https://www.xara.one/short-stories-june/
"In contrast with most of human history, modern liberal societies take a laissez-faire approach to the grand philosophical questions about life. Instead of seeking to inculcate one vision or another through religion or state ideology, people are generally left on their own to answer big questions about the meaning of their existence, their identity, and how they should view the world into which they are born" - this is a misreading of the situation and a fairly profound one. There is in fact an underlying ideology, but one that is too sophisticated to come out of the shadows. We can talk about it some more if you decide to respond to my Facebook messages. There's a lot you could learn from such a conversation but apparently you don't think I'm worth the time.
Oddly enough that's exactly an expression of the ideology you have fully imbibed without being aware of or able to articulate.
That's a very perceptive observation and you're absolutely right. There is an underlying ideology but its too powerful and pervasive to actually name. Message me on here I don't check Facebook generally.
I am 74 years old and find ignorance about things of importance all around in the people I meet, regardless of age. I make no claim to wisdom, but I do consider myself informed on the most important issues we face as humanity both with relation to the natural world and to each other. If there is anything I can pat myself on the back for, it is that I have been a voracious reader for decades with an insatiable curiosity that has not diminished with age.
Your recommendations are welcomed, all I would add is encouragement to everyone to explore the world through reading, not through travel. Taking your body for a ride is a pale shadow of taking your mind on a challenging textual trip. To be able to say "been there, done that" is an expensive and worthless pursuit. To say "I think I understand, but I need to read this again" is always there to be found and is priceless.
Great advice Clif
I'm about the same age as you, demographically quite similar, and it is stunning for me to see how many of the books on your list pop up on mine as well.
Amazing…Nice to find likeminded people
Thank you!
Finally! Thanks very much.
We need this!! Thanks!!
Thank you so much Murtaza!
I wanted to express my gratitude for your insightful and nuanced coverage of both current and past events. Your articles provide a depth of understanding that I truly appreciate in this confusing and uncertain times. I frequently visit Twitter to read your perspectives and always look forward to your posts about the books you’ve been reading on Substack/Emails. They’ve inspired me to pick up several new titles myself.
I recently had the opportunity to take a leave from Big Tech and traveled to East and South East Asia for a couple of months where I met amazing people at random coffee/tea shops and we could talk respectfully about topics like moral philosophy, Islam, history, liberty, and social contract for several hours. Enriching conversations that I have never had in the US. Please keep sharing your readings and ideas. There are young people like me who look forward to reading your stuff. Thank you and many blessings!
Many thanks for this excellent comment and for reading me
Thank you very much bro!
Murtaza, you say: “Lacking answers to the major questions of existence, people are succumbing to quiet nihilism, desperation, or embracing many of the obvious ideological fads of the present era.”
Your list is not terrible; but, in my opinion, it’s still very much a doomer’s reading list. I think people would still be inclined to feel the way you describe in the quote I leave here after reading these.
Why doomer? This list made me not doom. But it also needs to be coupled with having and practicing a religion
Yeah, I am rethinking it. It’s not all in all a doomer list. But there are quite a few books like that in the list. As you say, one might like to have the benefit of already being religious when they read all this negative critique. One thing I believe now is that I wouldn’t want my son getting online and having all the pessimists and reactionaries pushing Nietzsche, Houellebecq, and such on him. I haven’t found anything really beneficial at all with Nietzsche except for interest in the classics. His philosophy never turned into anything coherently useful. Poor guy didn’t make it long enough to do so. Of course philosophers can find very niche curiosities with him; but I think he’s mostly unfruitful. And just why Houellebecq? I get that he’s kind of like porn for people that hate current Western societies; but what is exactly about his books that you recommend. Thanks!
To be more clear, what I originally saw as a doomer list was: Deneen + Nietzsche + Houellebecq + Perennialists + John Gray (who I actually really like). Strong anti-modernity sentiment. That’s what I meant. To be fair, the list as a whole is not directly giving off this vibe; but the vibe is there, quite a bit. And unfortunately Abdal Hakim Murad is popularly (mis-)interpreted as a Muslim Spenglerian polemicist intellectual and his book’s chapters on tanfir, khalwa dar anjuman, and ‘push back with something more beautiful’ are completely ignored by the extremely online Nietzschean and Evollanian inspired Muslim microbloggers.
Houellebecq is only a doomer superficially. There’s great spiritual message in his books they teach you it’s not weird to feel something off about contemporary society and that you need to look deeper
this list has me and my father frothing at the mouth. thank you for taking the time to cultivate it
Ha, thank you!
Great list. If you want to expand on Nietzsche, I’d start with Antichrist itself. Mencken is eloquent, but not great on the fundamentals.
That’s what I’ve heard about it. I actually have read and enjoyed him firsthand but wanted to give an accessible list
the way i was smiling seeing several of the books i admire make the list of your recommended reading. i've followed your twitter since i first signed up on the platform like 8-9 yrs ago and very glad i did so (shout out to goodreads for recommending good reviewers!). now if you'll excuse me i do have to bookmark/ read Houellebecq rather soon (he keeps getting recommended)
That’s amazing, which were the books?
Houellebecq is a really disturbing and off-putting person in his face but he’s trying to convey a powerful spiritual message using the medium of ugliness as a vehicle…it’s really something
well to start with: Jonathan Brown, Muhammad Asad, Iqbal, Neil Postman, and Fazl ur Rahman.
btw a tip: you can use topsters.org to show a professional looking collage for anything from your fav books to movies to shows to music etc. link here: https://topsters.org/
you can also see it in action here in one of my blog posts. i used it to show some authors i had read and liked (go to the bottom of the post): https://www.xara.one/short-stories-june/
using it has the advantage that the individual images would not be cropped out and the whole grid can be imported as one big jpeg/png file. see another example here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_mBOowYLpZdDTOv9bCBs4iyibVVqW11/view?usp=sharing
"In contrast with most of human history, modern liberal societies take a laissez-faire approach to the grand philosophical questions about life. Instead of seeking to inculcate one vision or another through religion or state ideology, people are generally left on their own to answer big questions about the meaning of their existence, their identity, and how they should view the world into which they are born" - this is a misreading of the situation and a fairly profound one. There is in fact an underlying ideology, but one that is too sophisticated to come out of the shadows. We can talk about it some more if you decide to respond to my Facebook messages. There's a lot you could learn from such a conversation but apparently you don't think I'm worth the time.
Oddly enough that's exactly an expression of the ideology you have fully imbibed without being aware of or able to articulate.
That's a very perceptive observation and you're absolutely right. There is an underlying ideology but its too powerful and pervasive to actually name. Message me on here I don't check Facebook generally.
I can name it, as well as anything can be named. Is there another platform were where could stay connected? I am on BlueSky now.
I hate spending time here. I was going to migrate my blog, but they they decided to not allow me to embed a Stone Transparency research portal.
Here's some of the content they missed out on, if you want an update on my take: https://www.writeinstone.com/blog/post/how-to-build-a-new-elite